After more than 33 years of dynamic experience as a print, purchasing, and distribution professional for Avon Products, Inc., Robert Anderson joined Servador as VP of Production. Having worked his way from various branch distribution positions to purchasing more than $120MM annually in plastic components to controlling the print and materials of over $100MM worth of literature items annually, his extensive skill set spans the procurement arena. Anderson has expert knowledge in paper and print commodity areas with proven track records of outstanding buying performance. He is very knowledgeable in supply chain management and business process redesign and is extensively experienced in global purchasing. He has a BA in economics from Iona College.

Servador partners with mid and large-sized companies to act as their offsite print procurement staff. By managing an organization’s complete commercial print function, Servador is able to reduce their expenditure 20-40% and reduce their internal workload significantly. Servador takes complete responsibility for the quality of the printed materials and manages the production process from specifications through delivery.

Robert, how many offices do you have and how much print is under management at Servador?

Servador has over $50 million in commercial print under management. Servador is based in New York City, with a regional sales office in New England.

What type of production/workflow does Servador use to manage print?

Servador partnered with IBM to build a proprietary technology system. This comprehensive, web-based tool allows for the Servador production team to coordinate and collaborate with our customers and suppliers. Servador also uses filtering technology to sort our supplier network by equipment and capability. By reducing the time it takes Servador to communicate with our clients and suppliers and process an RFQ, Servador can continue to meet the needs of a rapidly growing client base.

Is the workflow system completely web based?

It is completely web-based, so that any customer with Internet access can use it instantly. Our system provides an excellent communication link between the Customer, Servador and the Supplier. Specifications, and Quotations can be processed quickly and efficiently using the web.

What goals do you have for 2001?

In 2001 our focus is the continuing development and fine-tuning of our internal technology system as well as our client and supplier interface. We will be expanding our direct sales force and will be working closely with Suppliers to develop an error free production process.

Does Servador handle all proofing and press checks for clients?

Part of Servador’s value is the in house expertise that often lets us troubleshoot issues before they reach the press or, likewise, before they reach the client. Servador pre-flights all client files before sending them to our printers. Servador also reviews all Bluelines and proofs that are produced by the printer before forwarding them to our client. This is a big workload advantage for our customers since we find and correct errors before they make the final approval. In addition, we have an extensive quality assurance program with our suppliers that ensures a top quality finished product.

As a middleman in the process, tell us how important your supplier network is.

Our commercial print suppliers like us because the one relationship with Servador is a gateway to tremendous business from a wide range of desirable clients. In addition, the suppliers do not need to expend any additional sales effort to get the additional work. Our suppliers understand that we are a fast-growing business and they want to grow with us. In return, we demand the highest quality and very competitive pricing. We only want to partner with high quality, service-focused Suppliers who can anticipate potential quality issues and work with us to resolve them before items are printed.

With no equipment, how can you compete with a full service printer?

The amazing thing about Servador is that, unlike a traditional printer, we are not limited by in-house capabilities. Servador maintains a network of over 300 qualified suppliers that act as our manufacturing arm. Regardless of a print project’s complexities, we have a depth to our network that not only allows us to find a group of suppliers who are ideally suited to produce the job, it allows us to get competitive pricing even on specialized items. Our clients need not look anywhere else.

Has the US recession hurt business this year?

The current economic recession and major layoffs in corporate America place extraordinary pressure on cost savings throughout an organization. Many companies are turning to outsourcing as an important part of their Business Process Redesign efforts. We anticipate excellent growth for Servador because of this trend.

How is Servador any different from other ePrint companies who come between the buyer and seller for a commission?

Servador is not considered to be in the ePrint space – we use the Internet as a tool, but really we are a traditional "outsourced services" business. I don’t have much faith in the business models where there is no value added by the intermediary. Simply connecting a buyer with his current group of suppliers is not, in my book, worth a 2% commission. I believe Servador will be successful because we bring domain expertise and complete project management to a client. We don’t have a cookie-cutter solution that we impose on them, because every organization has different resources and different needs, rather we add value where a company needs it the most.

You don’t really hear much about Servador. Is that part of the strategy or do you not have the money for mass brand awareness campaigns?

I have always believed that the only marketing that really counts is word-of-mouth. Nothing beats having a satisfied customer. Our customers, and even our suppliers, have brought new opportunities to our door. We have a direct sales force that does a great job of conveying our story to prospective clients. In the future, I’m sure that we will do some targeted marketing campaigns to grow the business, but for now, we need to grow at the right pace.

If you were giving a Print Buying Seminar, what would you say about the process and how Servador can help?

Smart print buyers know their suppliers. They know what equipment the suppliers have on the floor and what each supplier’s capabilities are for prepress, press and finishing/binding. They are familiar with each one’s fulfillment capabilities and understand their suppliers’ capacity and its fluctuations. (For example a supplier that specializes in annual reports is typically swamped at the same time every year). When armed with this information, a print buyer can match specifications to the suppliers that are ideally suited to manufacture the job. That’s the Servador method.

If you want to purchase print effectively, you must perform a competitive bidding process. I think every print buyer purchases their key items well, because they take the time to do it right. Unfortunately, a busy buyer will default smaller jobs to a favored supplier. That’s an easy answer, but we all know that it’s not the best one. When appropriate, Servador procurement specialists ask our suppliers to break down their bids into each element i.e., prepress, press, paper, finishing, fulfillment and delivery. Servador then reviews each cost element in case it would be more economical to split a project between multiple suppliers.


Thank you Robert.